Television

Tuesday, July 12, 2016

Did OxyContin manufacturer know of widespread abuse?

More than 194,000 people have died since 1999 from overdoses
involving opioid painkillers, including OxyContin, reported the Los Angeles Times. Nearly 4,000 people start
abusing those drugs every day, according to government statistics. The
prescription drug epidemic is fueling a heroin crisis, shattering communities
and taxing law enforcement officers who say they would benefit from having
information such as that collected by Purdue Pharma.

A private, family-owned corporation, Purdue Pharma has
earned more than $31 billion from OxyContin, the nation’s bestselling
painkiller. Purdue and three of its
executives pleaded guilty to federal charges of misbranding OxyContin in what
the company acknowledged was an attempt to mislead doctors about the risk of
addiction. It was ordered to pay $635 million in fines and fees.

A Los Angeles Times investigation found that, for more than
a decade, Purdue collected extensive evidence suggesting illegal trafficking of
OxyContin and, in many cases, did not share it with law enforcement or cut off
the flow of pills. A former Purdue executive, who monitored pharmacies for
criminal activity, acknowledged that even when the company had evidence
pharmacies were colluding with drug dealers, it did not stop supplying
distributors selling to those stores.

Purdue knew about many suspicious doctors and pharmacies
from prescribing records, pharmacy orders, field reports from sales
representatives and, in some instances, its own surveillance operations,
according to court and law enforcement records, which include internal Purdue
documents, and interviews with current and former employees.

About Matt

An analysis of crime and punishment from the perspective of a former prosecutor and current criminal justice practitioner.
The views expressed on this blog are solely those of the author and do not reflect the opinions or postions of any county, state or federal agency.